Mii and U
by Lleimi
Summary: AU. LloydxOC. Reimi and Lloyd find each other by one of the oddest means...3DS Miiverse! GamerLloyd
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Both Plusle ( u/1119984/Plusle) and I wrote this story together; taking turns writing a little bit each, me writing Lloyd's perspective and Plusle Reimi's. The forward slashes indicate when the writer/character perspective switches. We did this as a fun, casual, little RP type thing to do in our free time so it may be a bit jolt-y but we're really proud with how much we wrote! :) Also, I may have gotten confused with how MiiVerse works as I don't use it much myself, so, sorry if I got some of the functions/mechanics wrong.

Please enjoy!

* * *

Reimi curled up in her comfy position on the sofa and switched her 3DS on to game the night away. After a few minutes, the green 'streetpass' signal flashed up showing she had passed someone else with a handheld. She frowned slightly, she lived alone in her flat and wondered if it could be another resident who had recently bought the hardware. Logging into the Mii Plaza she saw she had passed someone called 'HotCoffee199' and that they had been playing 'system settings'. She smirked and sent the message 'Gr8 choice of game' and continued playing Rune Factory 4 until it was time for sleep, though she left her 3DS on overnight in case they streetpassed again, curious about who it could be.

/

"Huh?"

Lloyd had arrived home an hour ago and had just about settled down to play some games on his new 3ds. He had only gotten it yesterday and had taken it out with him today to work. He was excited to see he had streetpassed someone but when he logged in, a weird characterised mii called 'DekuShrub' walked up to his and said, 'Gr8 choice of game' with a deadpannd expression set.

He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and quickly typed back the childish message, 'just got this yesterday!'

He hoped to streetpass them again tomorrow.

/

The next night Reimi was pleased to see she had streetpassed 'HotCoffee199' again. His avatar bounced in annoyance 'just got this yesterday!' and she smiled. She felt a little guilty as she realized she may have come across a bit rude but his reply reaction was funny and she felt like pushing it a bit further.

'Party over here!' she typed back.

She then got up and walked to the window to check if she could see anyone nearby with a 3DS but she couldn't so she assumed he was probably in one of the apartments nearby. She ran into her neighbours quite often but didn't know them by name only sight and had never seen them with a games console (obviously as they were walking about).

/

He surprised to see the same mii from yesterday had arrived back in his streetpass queue. He wondered if they went to the same university as him, or maybe they were a customer from work at the coffee shop?

He clicked to see he had gotten another personal message from them.

"Party over here?" He read out loud to his empty apartment. He furrowed his eyebrows once again.

They were definitely still making fun of him.

'better than rune factory!' He had responded back. He knew little of Rune Factory other than the rpg/dating sim joint genre, but he was annoyed and wanted them to be as well. You wouldn't believe him to be a nineteen year old university student living independently, but here he was, arguing with a five year old for all he knew.

/

"Hmm..." Reimi's eyes narrowed slightly at the reply she found the next evening. She figured she was dealing with a young boy whose parents had just bought him a 3DS. Even though a voice in her head told her to ignore him from now on as it was creepy if she was suddenly talking to a stranger's ten year old son, she found herself already tapping out a reply automatically.  
"Your face is a Rune Factory"  
She couldn't help it.  
She pressed send and immediately regretted it. Turning her 3DS off, she watched TV for awhile instead of gaming and went to sleep trying not to think too much about the Miiverse.

/

Okay, so now he _knew_ it was a 5 year old. Even so, he couldn't help but reply back.

'What does that even mean?'

He tapped away furiously at the screen and didn't realise he had sent a friend invite in the process of his frantic actions.

He made sure to keep his 3DS on standby to see if he'd get a reply despite not knowing where they kept passing each other, however, he knew it wasn't at the coffee shop or his uni, as it would only light up in his neighbourhood.

/

Reimi raised her eyebrows at the friend request and put her 3DS down for a second to think it over. She was getting progressively worried she was crossing a line here by befriending some small child over the internet, but at the same time she sort of looked forward to streetpassing him as it made her 3DS ventures more interesting. She shrugged and accepted ythe request, writing back 'Mario Kart 3DS, tomorrow 8pm?' as she noticed he had been playing it recently. She might gauge more about the person she was dealing with after playing a round of Mario Kart with them. She noted they normally streetpassed at about 7pm so hopefully they would see her message in time and take her up on the offer.

/

During a free period at uni, he decided to go study at the library. When he went through his bag to get the appropriate books out, he noticed the green light indicating he'd passed someone. He tapped in and, low and behold, it was the weird DekuShrub character again, but this time, it was just a streetpass indicator but also, his 'friends' icon was blinking.

'DekuShrub accepted your friend request! Hooray!'

...

...

..

.

"What?!" He shouted out in the meant-to-be silent library. He got some scolding, amused and some odd looks from the people around him. He scratched his head sheepishly and bowed his head in apology.

'When did I...?'

And there was more. DekuShrub had also sent a message.

'Mario Kart 3DS, tomorrow 8pm?'

He looked at it for a while and eventually concluded it might be best to put his/her money where their mouth is (so to speak).

That night, they played for a surprisingly long time and even more odd, were evenly matched. They drew on most of the cups (both coming first on 2 cups each while the other follows at second). When they finished up, Lloyd sent the begrudging message, 'Not bad...for a kid'

/

"I'm 22!"

She typed back frowning. So that must mean HotCoffee wasn't a kid if he called her one. She had enjoyed playing Mario Kart with him the previous night, surprised he actually proved a bit of a challenge. She was going to ask if he wanted to play again tomorrow night but after his response she didn't feel like it so much.

She left her 3DS on overnight, as she always did now, and went about her day afterwards normally. She was an art intern at a mobile videogame company and mostly enjoyed it but was never challenged to the extent she wanted, being only an intern.

/

"Haha," Lloyd found it hilarious to find out someone he'd assumed wasn't even in double digits was actually older than himself.

'Really?...You don't act like it!' He typed back hoping to get a rise from the other, but when a day passed with no response he wondered if something had happened.

Despite the stranger mainly antagonising him, he found their interactions fun and he began to look forward to them. He even started talking about the mii stranger to his uni friends.

So, when the silence continued for two more days he decided to send a message to a invite them to play MarioKart again at the same time as last.

He really hoped they responded before he got back home.

/

Reimi flipped open her 3DS and read the message.

"Eager for another beating?"

Despite the fact they had drawn last time they played, she couldn't help the fight talk.

When it got to night she was happy to see him waiting in the lobby.

As they raced they were quite even again. When they got to playing Rainbow Road, Reimi tried to bump her cart into his as much as possible, often succeeding in pushing both him and then (accidentally) herself off of Rainbow Road. She found it funny and wasnt that concerned when they placed 7 and 8th, losing the cup. She hoped he found it funny too and wasn't annoyed though he could have been since his character kept jumping around a lot in response.

/

When his long day was finally over and 8pm finally rolled around, he beamed seeing DekuShrub join the lobby. He was so relived when he got the cocky response earlier and couldn't wait to play MarioKart with them.

However...Deku seemed to have another agenda every race other than...well racing.

Despite jumping up and down trying to communicate 'What the hell are you doing to us?!', the whole time he was laughing his head off at his weird companion's actions. He was so happy that Deku didn't appear angry at him any more and hoped they'd continue to message with him.

After the race, he messaged DS.

'What the hell were you doing? Haha!'

/

Reimi chuckled at the message, pleased to see he wasn't angry also.

"Do you have a Wii U?"

She was thinking the 3DS message boxes were too short to properly communicate and maybe he would want to talk more on there. She closed her 3DS and started making her packed lunch for tomorrow. She realized she was out of bread though, and so quickly popped down to the local Sainsburys to get a loaf.

On her way back into the apartment she stopped to reach into her handbag and grab her keys but was spared the trouble by someone opening the door for her. She looked up to see a man with long red hair twist his key in the lock and hold it open for her. "After you," his voice smooth.

She smiled nervously and thanked him and headed inside. As she walked to her apartment the man started to ask her a question but stopped when a door to the left opened and a brown haired guy appeared - "You took your time Zelos!"

Zelos hailed the boy and Reimi hurried away, shy and a little dazzled from the interaction, she didnt have much experience with guys and was a little frightened of them, silly though it sounded.

/

"Sheesh, what took you so long?" Lloyd huffed as he took the shopping off of Zelos.

"Hey, we've been living here for quite a few months now and I've only just noticed that a cutie lives next to us," Lloyd ignored the comment and continued to glare at him.

"What? Class ran overtime," Zelos explained, guilt-free.

"No it didn't, you were probably chatting up the Professor again," Lloyd moaned as he put away the groceries.

"Ah, you got me. Not everyone can practice abstinence bud,"

"Ha-ha," Lloyd dead-panned in annoyance, "I just...I dunno," He finished with a shrug.

"...How are we friends? You don't even let me date our friends at uni,"

"Haha, _they_ won't let you date them, and also, I want to hang out with them again,"

"What does that mean?"

Lloyd just laughed as Zelos tried to defend himself, and got out his 3DS.

"Oh! And now you're ignoring me to talk to your 5-year old friend,"

"I told you they're 22!"

"Whatever, bud. I'm going to go finish some uni work and might go out later. Wanna go?" Sometimes Lloyd forgets Zelos is a serious student now (not so much in high-school but he seemed more enthusiastic since college).

"I've got some work to do too so I'm not sure,"

"Alright, I'll ask you again later,"

After they went to their separate rooms to work, Lloyd cocked his eyebrow at the new message (that he had refrained from mentioning to Zelos) and wondered if there was a particular game they wanted to play. He typed back a quick, 'Yeah! Same I.D. as this one :)'

He smiled to himself, realising that DekuShrub seemed to be having just as much fun as he was and hoped to get a friend request soon.

/

Reimi woke up in the middle of the night after having a bad dream. Her room was dark except for the soft green glow of her 3DS streetpass. She checked the clock - 4am - but the possibility of having another message from HotCoffee drew her out of her sleep-filled haze. Besides she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep right away after her nightmare.

Reading his comment, she got out of bed and turned on her Wii U, adding him as a friend with the longer message 'I have Mario Kart 8, Sonic and All Starts Racing Transformed, Splatoon and Super Smash Bros'

to see if they had similar games to play.

She turned off the system, forgetting to write a message over 3DS streetpass to HotCoffee, but she was falling back asleep and didn't think on it too much.

The next day she was leaving for work when she saw a note stuck under her doorway. She cautiously picked it up and read 'Hey neighbour, didn't get to talk to you yesterday, how about coming over for tea tomorrow? I live at number 36 (Reimi lives at 42)'

Reimi frowned for a moment and thought about it, she decided when she got home tonight she would reply - she didn't want to be rude but she was also really scared of new people.

/

Before uni, Lloyd logged into his wii u and beamed when he saw a familiar username under his messages. He replied asking if they'd want to play splatoon later tonight. He quickly logged out and turned off the wii u , heading to leave for a long day of studies and kendo club but he was most excited for tonight's meeting with shrub, and it was the weekend tomorrow, so maybe play again after his coffee shop job. Similar thoughts carried in his mind throughout the day.

When he eventually got home, he was both surprised and slightly annoyed to see Zelos lounging on the coach with a girl who actually looked quite shy and unhappy herself.

 _I was wondering why we didn't walk back together after kendo._

"Hey bud, say hello to our neighbour," He smiled leaning back into the coach as his arm sat along the back of it. Lloyd wasn't annoyed at the stranger but just at Zelos' inconsiderateness for both their stranger and himself (he had a game to play later!).

"Hey, nice to meet you," Lloyd smiled and the girl smiled back but timidly. Zelos was right about one thing, she was really sweet (well, he said cute but, same thing) and pretty, but he couldn't help but hope that she didn't stay too long...

/

So Reimi had found herself round her neighbours flat. She was almost relieved to see it would be just the two of them as she couldn't handle meeting a lot of people at once but then, realising that it WAS just the two of them she grew nervous and hoped he didn't have any expectations about it.

To Zelos credit (she found out his name on the letter) he was a very relaxed and welcoming host. She found out both he and his flatmate, Lloyd, went to Uni together, though they studied different subjects. Zelos took mathematics and Lloyd woodwork. He sat talking with her for a little while and then, upon finding out she worked in videogames, asked if she wanted to play a few rounds with him. She happily accepted, as it meant less frantic searching for conversation topics, and vaguely wondered if he could be 'HotCoffee', though after playing a single round the thought left her head as he was quite awful.

After they had played a cup, Reimi could tell that Zelos was feeling bored so she suggested they talk a little more and was surprised when they were interrupted by a key turning in the door.

Lloyd walked in and did a little double-take seeing Reimi. She wondered vaguely if Zelos had told Lloyd she was coming over but introduced herself politely, though felt herself withdraw a little. Lloyd was very cute.

Luckily, Zelos spoke for her.

"Bud, you got to play a round with us, Reimi wiped the floor with me,"

Reimi blushed a little "I just play it a lot. You could definitely get as good as me, no problem,"

Lloyd hesitated, looking at his bedroom door once, before saying "Just one game, I've got plans tonight,"

"I need to head off soon too, I'm meeting a friend tonight," Reimi put in, a little worried she was bothering them by being over this long.

Zelos started up Mario Kart.

/

"Wow, you're really good!" Lloyd was astonished at how Reimi kept up with him. None of his friends could beat him at MK...well, except for DekuShrub.

"Haha, so are you," Reimi laughed as she hit him with a green shell.

The way she played reminded him a lot of DS and kept glancing at Reimi, thinking they could be one and the same. But, she seemed too timid, whereas DS had a more teasing edge to them, so, he put the thought away for now.

Although she didn't say much, Reimi was really nice to be around. She seemed easy to get on with and she seemed the type to open up more over time, not that he was sure they'd meet again. Zelos had gone to watching as he got too frustrated with losing.

Despite having a good time with Reimi, Lloyd still really wanted to play and chat with DS, so, he kept glancing at the clock. He actually saw Reimi do the same a couple of times and when he caught her, looked down guiltily which Lloyd thought was unnecessary as she already mentioned meeting someone.

When the cup finished, it was half six, and Lloyd was planning on meeting DS online at 7.

"Thank you for having me over. Sorry to put you out,"

"Zelos was the one who forced you over, so _we're_ sorry to have put you out,"

"Hey! I was being neighbourly,"

 _You've never cared about our neighbours before._

"Anyway, we all had a good time. Win, win!"

Reimi laughed sweetly and Lloyd automatically smiled at the cute noise. And before he even knew it, he said, "You're welcome to come over any time."

Zelos looked over to him in surprised before smirking in understanding, "Yeahhhhh,"

Lloyd started to feel himself blush. _I didn't mean it like that..._

Reimi smiled nervously, seemingly unsure how to respond and just gave a quiet 'thank you' before saying goodbye and leaving back to her apartment.

/

As the door closed behind Reimi she allowed herself a little smile. She felt she had done well today and she was even invited back if she wanted to. Of course, she probably wouldn't bring it up first or maybe she should invite them over next time, but she would worry about that later.

She hurried back to her apartment to sort her dinner and set up the Wii U to play Splatoon with HC.

Just before they were due to play she received a message from him on the Wii U. As the message length was longer than on their 3DC communication, they could now say more. It read.

"Hey, sorry to ask this but I was just curious. Are you a girl?"

Reimi frowned a little. She generally hid her online gender because she didn't like the reaction girl gamers seemed to get. Why was he asking this all of a sudden?

"Are you Professor Oak or something? And actually I'm an alien." she replied back, hoping he had played Pokemon to get the reference to the first part. Even if he didn't she wasn't going to reply truthfully.

She again wondered why he was asking her this. She had thought earlier it was possible that Lloyd was HC, but he was playing a different character (that maybe because Zelos had taken Dry Bones though) and he also played differently against her. Whereas HC would have no hesitation in hitting her relentlessly with shells and items, Lloyd seemed to hold back and wouldn't hit her multiple times if he had already attacked her once.

After sending the reply she fired up Splatoon and enjoyed a couple of hours worth of matches with him. She wondered if after the game he would reply again and dreaded it slightly, though more because she liked just having fun with him like this with their real-life personas aside.

/

 _"Are you Professor Oak or something? And actually I'm an alien."_

Lloyd laughed a little at the response, but wondered if it was a bad idea to have asked their gender. It's just that he couldn't get the idea that Reimi was DS out of his head. He enjoyed speaking and playing with DS so much that he was growing more and more curious to their identity. Their gender wasn't particularly important...but a part of him was hopeful that they were a girl. He felt really guilty for that though. No matter who they were , he generally wanted to be their friend and meet them and hoped it was mutual (apparently not). He knew it was silly as they didn't even know each other that well, and even if they were a girl, it's not like they'd be attracted to him back. So, for now he'd just enjoy their time back.

He quickly typed back, '...I should have guessed -_- Well, I'm glad there's a reason to your craziness! Alien suits you much more, yep, yep. Sorry for asking. It doesn't really matter but my curiosity got the better of me. Wanna play tomorrow as well? It's saturday so maybe you're busy?'

He smiled and went to making some dinner as he waited, hoping for a reply.

As he cooked, Reimi kept popping into his head. She was really sweet, but because he didn't know her well, he didn't feel !00% comfortable going full force on her in MK8, although he realises now he shouldn't have worried as it seemed she could definitely hold her own!

He debated whether or not to go see her tomorrow...although he might be bothering her. He pondered and thought nervously about the prospect of approaching her.

/

Reimi sighed in relief at his response. She was glad he had dropped the subject.

She replied "Yeah, I'm free most of Saturday though I will be having a lie-in til at least noon! Maybe around 3 you want to play?"

After receiving his positive reply she washed up for the night and got ready for sleep.

The next day she went out in the morning to do some shopping, and also picked up a small box of chocolates for Zelos and Lloyd for having her over to stay the day before. She left it outside their apartment with a small note saying 'Thank you for the tea! -Reimi' and hurried back into her room, too shy to knock in case it led to an awkward meeting.

Then she went back into her apartment and got ready to play more Splatoon with HotCoffee. Around 2 she heard a knock on the door and opened it, surprised to see Lloyd waiting for her. She flushed and self consciously stood close to the door.

"Hi," and then noticing the chocolates in his hand, "O-oh, you got them. That's good,"

/

Lloyd scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He had no idea why he had come over, but when he saw the chocolates and note, it was so sweet, he was impelled to see Reimi. However, he had NO plan whatsoever.

Reimi stayed closely to the door, most obviously uncomfortable.

"A-ah, yeah, thank you so much, but we were just happy to have you over. Also, I'm pretty sure Zelos forced you against your will," Lloyd awkwardly chuckled the last part.

"N-no, w-well, he was definitely enthusiastic about it, but I was really grateful for the invitation. I had a good time," Reimi smiled nervously, as she kept her hand gripped around the edge of the door.

"Yea-yeah! We did too, um and we were wondering, I know we already told you you could come over whenever you wanted but I doubt you'd ever take that up, haha, but, well, would you want to come over again tomorrow? Oh, but it's Sunday, so, you're probably busy," He was beginning to ramble and began to feel extremely embarrassed.

"...I'm free," Reimi replied in a small voice. Lloyd was thrilled- "but..." and then his heart sank a little. He was about to say a bunch of apologies for bothering her but then she continued, "Maybe this time, because you guys had to host and attend to me with tea and everything, um, maybe, if you two want, you could come to my place? Only if you want to, of course," Lloyd could tell she was scared of asking but he was happy she did.

"Yeah! That'd be great! And Zelos and I could bring games, controllers and snacks and stuff-" Lloyd cut himself off as he realised he sounded like an excited kid, but Reimi was laughing and he didn't care anymore.

"Haha, yeah, that sounds good, thanks. It's handy we live so close," Reimi smiled warmly.

"Yeah," Lloyd said in bewilderment, "s-so um what time is good for you?"

"Um...because I tend to sleep in on the weekends, is 2pm okay?"

"Yeah, that's perfect. I'm the same, haha," he refrained from saying he was worse.

Reimi smiled again and they stood their awkwardly for a moment.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!"

Lloyd was ecstatic and even more so, as he was about to play with DS in half an hour.

/

Reimi was still grinning to herself when she set up her Wii U half an hour later to play with HotCoffee.

They played Splatoon for about 3 hours before Reimi's stomach growled, alerting her it was dinner time. She sent HC a message apologizing and saying she had to go and also wouldn't be around to play again til Monday evening now, but asked whether he wanted a rematch then. She also sent him a little drawing of a Deku Scrub hitting a mug of Hot Coffee with a Splatoon paintbrush and logged off for the night.

As she got into bed she wondered once more about whether Lloyd or Zelos could be Hot Coffee. She kinda hoped it was Lloyd, but again, she had noted a different play style between the two so it was unlikely and Zelos wasn't that great at games so...

She decided when they came over, if they played on the Wii U she would log in with her backup Mii, the one that looked more like her, so that just in case Lloyd was HC as she still didn't know much about him and quite liked the way things were now. She hoped that he (HC) felt the same. She didn't have that many friends who also played games so it felt like a big deal finally having someone regular to play with. She was happy.

/


	2. Chapter 2

Lloyd clicked 'like' and smiled at the drawing DS had sent him on the mii verse board. They'd had a great session and agreed to playing on Monday evening. The rest of the day, he did some work for Uni, had dinner with Zelos and played some of his one-player games on his 3DS, all the while buzzing with nervousness about tomorrow's events. Zelos had given him a sly smile when Lloyd had told him about going to Reimi's, and gave a not-so-cryptic, "I've got your back, buddy" before going out. Lloyd had called out to him, "It's not like that!"

"Sup, Reimi!" Zelos greeted when she opened the door.

"Hello, u-um, come in," Zelos walked in, leaving Lloyd next.

"Hey Reimi, we brought snacks but...it's pretty much junk food, I hope that's alright," Lloyd said sheepishly.

"Haha, that's fine. I doubt have much else to offer but junk food either," Reimi seemed a little less nervous, but only a little.

When Lloyd walked in Zelos had already taken the armchair, leaving the couch free. Zelos saw Lloyd looking, and smiled shamelessly.

"Hey Reimi, want me to set up the Wii U?" Zelos offered.

"Oh, sorry! I should have set it up before!" Reimi apologised.

"Don't worry, it's not like it takes much time. It's not a big deal," Lloyd reassured.

"Yeah, Rem, don't worry!" Zelos called out as he began setting up.

It was silly, and he hated himself for it, but Lloyd suddenly felt annoyed at Zelos. He was already able to give her a nickname and be familiar with her, while Lloyd himself, was struggling for simple conversation.

"I-I'll help you with the snacks," Lloyd nervously offered, as he put their brought snacks on top of the kitchen counter.

/

Reimi finished setting up the Wii U and gave a controller to each of them, taking the GamePad for herself. It was her controller of choice, despite it probably being the least user-friendly. She had got used to it over time. She turned from the TV and was going to automatically sit on the armchair so the two guys could share the sofa but froze slightly seeing Zelos already lounging on it. He smiled at her and she tried to mask her hesitation by saying 'You don't mind if I take the GamePad do you?"  
Zelos shook his head.

Reimi turned and sat down next to Lloyd on the sofa. It wasn't a very big sofa because she was normally the only one here and as she sat down she found her and Lloyd were so close they were almost touching. Her face burned red and she didn't look at him. She turned the Wii U on and selected her "Reimi" Mii instead of Deku Link without either guy noticing (she selected her avatar on the GamePad)

As she began to load up NintendoLand (she decided it would be kinder to Zelos not to play MK) Lloyd spoke.  
"I-I'll have to add you on my Wii U, Reimi"

"Yeah, please do. What's your username? I can add you right now,"  
"It's HotCoffee199"

Reimi froze. Lloyd WAS HotCoffee.

She had partly suspected it but felt it was more from her own wish then anything else.

She fumbled with the GamePad to get to the friends screen and added Lloyd's name in. She felt his gaze on the GamePad and flushed redder in embarrassment. She had no friends on her account as it was a secondary one she only used when she was first setting the Wii U up.

Lloyd seemed to slump a little on the sofa next to her. She added him and started the game up again.  
She wasn't sure why but she didn't want to tell him she was DS. She was embarassed about how she had first treated him and scared that if he knew who she was they wouldn't have as much fun playing as Lloyd was obviously holding back on her when they played IRL. She didn't want him to treat her differently because she was a girl and she didn't want the fun they had playing the games to stop.  
She was happy though and it made her like him even more to find out he was HC. In fact she felt like she would never be able to look him in the face again now.

/

Lloyd stared disappointedly at the Reimi-esque mii. He didn't realised how much he had wanted Reimi to be DS and it kind of winded him to find out she wasn't.

But he tried to shake it off and enjoy Reimi's company. He kept telling himself it didn't matter she wasn't DS, and it _didn't_ matter...but he had hoped...

Anyway, he was having a great time with Reimi and she seemed to be warming up to Zelos and him. She way being a little bit more teasing when she won games, not overly so, very gentle comments that she'd quickly retract if she thought she'd offended one of them, which she hadn't. There was an awkward moment where their hands touched when they both went to grab a crisp from the bag, and Reimi immediately apologised and withdrew her hand away.

"What are you apologising for, you dork?" He had laughed, but her reaction had stung...only a little bit as he understood she was shy.

And Zelos had been weird all day. He had insisted they team against him, and sometimes he would leave for the bathroom, or to have a phone call for longer than necessary.

When Lloyd confronted him later when they got home, Zelos had smiled cheekily and said, "You're welcome!" Before going off to his room.

Lloyd sighed. It was almost half 7 and he didn't really feel like eating from all the snacking he had done, so, he went to his room and played on his 3DS. He saw DS was online and decided to message them.

 _Are you always online?_

/

Reimi let the guys out and leant against her forehead against the door in relief. She hadnt run out of things to talk about, which she was proud of, and had had some really nice and fun conversations with Lloyd about games they both liked. Zelos kept leaving the room and she wasn't sure he had had a very fun time, but she felt guilty as she didn't really mind..

At one point Lloyd had casually asked her if she knew anyone else in the building that played either 3DS or Wii U, and when she said she didn't, his face dropped a little. She knew what he was thinking but still felt like she wanted to hold herself back for the time being.

As she had been playing mostly multiplayer games all day, she decided to jump on her 3DS and play some Rune Factory. Her notification light turned on to indicate she had street-passed someone and wasn't surprised to see it was Hot Coffee.

"Are you always online?"

She laughed and logged back onto her Wii U as Deku Scrub so she could reply immediately.

"Maybe ^_^"

She waited a bit for his reply. They talked a little more about nothing before he asked. "Sorry to ask this but do you live in Chaucer House?"

She hesitated but replied affirmative.

A little while later he responded again. "If you ever want to meet and play games together, let me know. Even tomorrow night if you want" (its sunday evening right?)

Reimi replied "I'm sorry," rather guiltily and drew a sad shrub face. "Still up for play tomorrow though?"

/

'Of course!' He replied back, but he was heavily disheartened.

DS clearly didn't want to meet up, and it oddly hurt quite a lot. He had acknowledged and accepted they were quite secretive but it was only occurring to him then the possible reasons why.

 _They probably don't like me enough, and these meetings must mean very little to them..._

Thoughts like that entered his mind often after that, but surprisingly, despite his low feelings on their relationship, he stilled tried his hardest to spend time with DS.

Throughout the following week he had been trying to talk to DS more and his mind was full of thoughts of them. So much so, that when Reimi would try to set up another play date, if it interrupted, or was too close to his time with DS, he'd politely turn down her offer. He still liked Reimi, A LOT, but he had realised he also liked DS the same and felt...uncomfortable spending time with them both.

Zelos, of course, didn't understand Lloyd's infatuation with someone he'd only spoke to through mii-verse messages and played games with, and constantly told him he was wasting the real-life 'cutiepie' next door. Lloyd agreed...but he didn't want to spend time with Reimi, knowing how he felt about her, while having similar feelings with another person.

/

Reimi's week ended very differently to its beginning.

She had started it with the hope that her and Lloyd would be able to spend more time playing games together, but it seemed as though the more Reimi liked Lloyd the less he wanted to spend time with her. Though, weirdly, the more he wanted to spend time with DS.

He was always very polite with his refusals but she couldnt help feeling bitter towards him, and it was starting to show through as DS. If Lloyd would turn down a meeting with Reimi, she would cut short her playtime as DS. And she hadn't been as warm in her messages. She could tell he was trying harder to talk to DS but she felt as though she were directly dealing out the karma for how he was treating her as 'Reimi'.

A little more time went by and Reimi stopped asking Lloyd to play games with her and instead went back to staying quiet and playing games by herself. She realized that Lloyd must like her as a person if he was so nice to DS but it still hurt that he didnt want to know her as 'Reimi'.

One day, the week after, she bumped into Zelos again. He ushered her aside on her way into the building and spoke as they were outside.

"Do you want to come round this weekend?"

"Huh?" Reimi was floored. She was about to agree, when she thought of Lloyd. Would he want her round? Zelos seemed to read her mind however and replied "Bud's been down recently, and hasn't been able to play as many games as normal. I think having you round would really cheer him up,"

"Are you sure? Would Lloyd want me round though?" she asked glumly.

"Yeah of course," Zelos grinned. "He likes you, and I do too,"

She decided to reluctantly agree and had to cancel the weekend plans she had had with Lloyd as DS, but she wanted to see him again and gauge how he was feeling about her. If he responded positively, maybe she'd have the strength to tell him who she was.

/

Lloyd had been miserable lately. He had decided that he wanted to know more about DS and give them more of his time, but... DS seemed to be getting busier and busier. So much so, Lloyd realised their excuses were most probably lies. Their responses seemed to very clearly shun him away as well. Short, blunt responses, that would hit Lloyd in the stomach like an iron-fist each time.

"L-Lloyd?" A gentle voice spoke.

Lloyd jolted from his barrage of unhappy thoughts, and realised he had been stood in front of the mailboxes for a while daydreaming. (The mailboxes are on the ground floor of the apartment building as you walk in)

"O-oh, hey Reimi," He greeted as he turned round to look at her.

"...Are you okay?" She seemed genuinely worried, and it made him realise how much he missed seeing her, but he had decided to push her away when he learned his feelings were torn between two different people.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm standing in the way. You probably needed to get our mail,"

"...No, I just saw you standing there and I- Lloyd, what's wrong?"

Lloyd sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to her, "It's really nothing, haha. I...I just, I think I'm loosing someone really important to me...and I don't know how to fix it..."

/

Reimi's heart hurt to see Lloyd so sad. But she couldn't help the twinge of jealously that flared up inside her too. She wished Lloyd would feel as sad about not seeing her as he did about this other person. But she pushed those feelings aside and tried her best not to let any bitterness show.

"Who is it? I'm sure you guys can make up. Knowing you, I doubt anything that bad happened." she gave a reassuring smile.

Lloyd looked down at his feet for a moment. "It's going to sound silly... but an.. online friend. We play 3DS together, and they live in this building, but it's someone I've never met,"

Reimi froze. Lloyd must be talking about DS, judging from this and their recent Miiverse conversations. She felt her face heat up guiltily.

"O-oh... I see,"

 _I have to tell him..._

"Are you ..do you mean... DekuScrub?" she hedged cautiously. Lloyd's eyes locked onto Reimi's.

"Y-yes! You know them? Do you know who they are?" He went on eagerly, moving a step closer to her.

"Actually, Lloyd..." Reimi broke eye contact. " _I'm_ DekuScrub..."

A silence fell. A silence so heavy Reimi was scared to look at Lloyd, so her mouth starting talking to fill it.  
"I was going to tell you as soon as I found out who you were but... I was scared we'd lose our connection. You play differently against DS than you do me, and I was just having so much fun, I didn't want it to stop... I'm sorry,"  
She still couldn't face looking at him.

/

Lloyd stared, stunned at Reimi's confession. It made sense, but he had so many questions...however, his head was still processing, so he really didn't know where to begin. In a way, he was crazy happy. As he'd already acknowledged, he liked _both_ of them the same way, so, it was kind of perfect. Though, he couldn't help the small burst of frustration that seemed to take president over all his other feelings.

"..B-but, your...mii, when me and Zelos came over..."

"...I-I purposely picked that one. I-like I said, you treated me differently...and I wasn't sure how'd you react," She was looking down and fiddled with her keys as she spoke.

"But I treated you differently because you _acted_ differently," His voice steadily rose with annoyance.

"I'm shyer in person, I know...but both the me here and DekuScrub are parts of me," She wasn't yelling at all but her voice was rigid with, what Lloyd assumed, was second-hand frustration, "I...you became distant after getting to know the me in person, rather than my online persona."

"That was because I liked _both_ of you! I didn't want to be wishy-washy, and just-"

"Why couldn't you have been friends with both of us then?!"

"What? No-when I say like I mean..." There was an awkward pause as he stopped mid confession, "I thought you felt the same, but clearly, I was wrong," Sad and angry, Lloyd quickly left the scene, up the stairs to his apartment.

/

Reimi tried to say more but Lloyd was already gone. She let out a frustrated groan and went to take a walk. She assumed Lloyd would tell Zelos she wouldn't be able to make it over now, and hoped Zelos wasn't too annoyed with her.

What was Lloyd going to say at the end? It didn't make sense. She did have a weight off her chest now that she had revealed who she was, but it was immediately replaced with frustration and sadness at Lloyd's behavior.

When she got back in the evening she half expected a visit from either Lloyd or Zelos but neither approached her and she was too scared to approach Lloyd first. So, a few days went by.

She didn't streetpass Lloyd's mii or see either of them for the first few days. When she did eventually streetpass Lloyd, he hadn't written anything to her. She wrote back "Can we start over?" but again got no response, just the generic streetpass message. She tried again the next day "Can we talk about this?" and hoped he would reply soon. She didn't know many of the residents of their flat and, aside from not liking having confrontations with people, she really wanted Lloyd to be her friend again.

/

"Bud, this is ridiculous!" Zelos said loudly, following Lloyd to his locker, "You're acting like a brat. Don't take it out on Reimi."

"She lied to me!" Lloyd replied incredulously.

"So? I get why she did it, she's shy. A lot of people might have done the same," Zelos continued, "Also, isn't this perfect? Two people you're into are the same person!"

"And neither of them like me!"

"Right, but have you thought how important you are to Reimi as a friend? We can easily tell that she's not exactly the charismatic type, so it must have taken a lot of courage to get to know us, and you're just going to leave her like some douche-bag, fedora-wearing child?"

"You know it's not like that!" Lloyd protested heatedly, "It...just hurts to be around her. I like her a lot," His voice had grown softer as he confessed.

"I know. And she might come to like you over time, but you're throwing in the towel and a good friend away, before things have even started," Zelos explained, still arguing his point, but in a gentler tone.

"I know you're right, I do...but I'm..." _scared_

"Yeah, but it's not like you to give up! And ol' Zelos will be with you all the way!" Zelos cheered, striking an arrogant pose.

"...Until a skirt walks by," Lloyd deadpanned.

"What?!" Zelos yelled, but he was laughing, so Lloyd knew he wasn't actually mad.

 _Knock Knock_

Lloyd stood nervously outside Reimi's door...he wasn't even sure she was in. Then, suddenly, he heard some shuffling of footsteps and his head began pounding in his ears.

The door opened, and as Reimi took him in, he saw her face change to a mix of nervousness and worry.

"...I'm so sorry about how I've been acting lately...I've been so stupid. I was hurt for a lot of different reasons, that I won't bore you with, but I realised, with the help of Zelos, that I was acting like a brat. I get why you didn't tell me, and why you were angry when I took president of talking to DS rather than you. I like you both so much, equally, and I should have been nothing but happy when you told me your identity. And, yes, I would like to start again. If you're still willing to..." He had said it all in one breath and it wasn't eloquent at all, but he needed to get it all out before he lost his nerve.

/

"Of course," Reimi replied warmly.

She had given up thinking that Lloyd would come over or even talk to her again as it had been a week, but she was really really happy that he had, even if it had taken some time.

"And I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to deceive you, I just really love playing games with you Lloyd," she continued beaming at him.

Lloyd looked away for a moment, and Reimi worried if she had said the wrong thing but when he turned back he was smiling widely, his face red.

"Do you want to play today?" she asked .

"I do but... I have work in an hour... maybe we could play this evening?" he said, the disappointment clear in his voice.

"Yeah. You work at the coffee shop in the shopping center right? Zelos told me," Reimi asked him.

"That's right," Lloyd nodded.

"I need to go into town to pick up some things, would it... would you mind if I walked in with you?"

/

"Yeah, of course! Well, no-I don't mind!" Lloyd was ecstatic by Reimi's response and that she so readily forgave him, which was not how it had gone in his head.

Reimi chuckled happily at his mess of words and quickly ran back in her apartment to get her bag and keys.

"Okay! Ready to go," Reimi cheered.

Lloyd couldn't stop smiling at her.

Their walk was full of conversation and never soured, surprisingly, they had only just having come out of an argument. They talked about work, games, future plans and Reimi even said she could meet him after Uni to have lunch together every once in a while.

When they had to part ways, Lloyd's colleagues wolf-whistled, misunderstanding the two's relationship.

Lloyd flushed immediately and yelled in annoyance, "Shut it, guys!" Though it had no real anger or maliciousness, just turned back to Reimi who also wore a pink hue around her cheeks. "S-sorry about that," He said sheepishly.

She smiled, shaking her head lightly, "It's fine."

"Well, see you after work?"

"Yes!" Waving before she walked away.

/

Reimi spent the afternoon getting some things she needed from town but was still buzzing from her interaction with Lloyd earlier, and was impatient for time to go faster.

She decided to kill some time by drawing their Splatoon characters in pencil in a few scenarios (mostly her killing him) and thought she would surprise him with them at the end of the day. She didn't show her art to other people very often outside of work so she hoped he would like it and also wouldn't be upset that she drew him dying. She was trying to get more into her DS self and feel comfortable teasing him in real life, though she hadn't quite got there yet.

They hadn't agreed to it, but Reimi also decided she wanted to meet Lloyd after his work rather than at home. She was worried she was being too eager, but they had had a lot of fun earlier, and she also really wanted to give him her drawings to see his reaction. Once it got to just before 5, Reimi waited on a bench outside the coffee shop and tried to act nonchalent, her brain telling her it was probably a bad idea and she was coming on too strong, but at the same time she couldn't help but hope Lloyd had been thinking about her too and would be okay walking back home with her.

/

Lloyd pulled off his apron before getting his bag and leaving. He said goodbye to his colleagues and left through the front doors of the coffee shop. He had to do a double take when he noticed Reimi sat on a bench directly adjacent to the store. She had her head down sketching, so she hadn't seen him yet.

He was so happy at the thought that she could be waiting for him, but didn't want to assume as much, so, he casually greeted her.

"Hey Reimi, what are you doing here?"

"O-oh, hey Lloyd! Well, my errands took a lot more time than expected, so I decided to meet you...I hope that's okay. Sorry, I should have texted to check," Lloyd noticed how worried and nervous she looked.

"No! I'm really glad you waited! Thank you so much, I hope you haven't been here long," He said as he sat down beside her.

"No, I didn't," Reimi smiled reassuringly and her cheeks grew slightly pink, "Before we head off, can I show you some pictures I drew?"

"Yeah! Please!" Lloyd out of pure joy, didn't realise he was being a little bit loud. He hadn't seen any of Reimi's art, except for her miiverse pieces which by themselves were great, but Lloyd had always hoped to see her other work. He couldn't help but feel special that she felt like she could show her art to him.

She handed him her sketch book, and Lloyd opened it to where it was bookmarked.

He instantly knew who she had drawn. They were their 'Splatoon' customised characters, fighting each other. They were so well drawn, and in such dynamic and cool poses, Lloyd was astonished.

"Wow...these are awesome! Reimi, you're so talented," He gushed in awe, still looking at the sketches.

"T-thank you," Reimi said bashfully with huge smile on her face.

"...But...hey! Why is my character the one always being beaten?!" Reimi laughed at his reaction, and also at how long it had taken him to realise. However, she instantly stopped when Lloyd didn't join in. She turned to him cautiously and just as she feared, he looked annoyed.

Then, suddenly, just before she was about to spout a cascade of apologies, Lloyd pinched her cheeks and pulled.

"This is what happens to cheeky people!" He laughed and Reimi quickly relaxed. He eventually relinquished his hold when she poked his side and they played like that for about five minutes before finally deciding to head home.

/

Reimi and Lloyd chatted more on the way home and played a couple of cups in Mario Kart at Reimi's, Reimi also made a quick dinner for them while Lloyd set up the console. They talked as they played and Reimi was definitely a bit more open with her videogame teasing of Lloyd, which he took with good grace and tried to tease back, though he often ended up without the courage to say some of his taunts, not knowing how far he should go since they still didn't know each other that well. (Reimi didn't find this to be a problem though haha) And also, Reimi was doing a little better than him today so his taunts felt a bit empty.

"It's a shame we can't play Splatoon," Reimi said during one of their intervals in game talk.

"Well.." Lloyd had already thought a little bit about this but was still hesitant to voice his thoughts. "I could always bring my TV and Wii U round.. I only really play the games with you at the moment so.."

" ? Would that be that okay?" Reimi brightened. "That would be so much fun!"

"I can get it right now," Lloyd replied smiling, pausing the game.

Reimi was surprised but happy at his eagerness and went to help him. Soon they had it set up and they both had fun playing together for a few hours before Lloyd looked at the time and saw how late it was. He said goodnight to Reimi and was surprised when she reached in with a hug goodbye. He hugged back and cheerfully returned to his flat.

Over the next few days the two spent a lot of their free time in each others company and grew even closer. Reimi was worried she was taking up too much of Lloyd's time but if she didn't approach him asking to play, he would always approach her so she felt reassured and happy with the situation, though a little guilty she didn't invite Zelos round. One time she had tried to and he immediately made the excuse of being busy with a sly smile that made her feel he could have been lying.

/

Lloyd had been in great spirits as of late. Himself and Reimi had been spending almost everyday together. After both Reimi's work and Lloyd's University, they'd go to either one of their homes and play games for a few hours, but lately, they've been doing other things together as well. Sometimes, they watch shows recommended by the other, go for walks into town, and sometimes just sit and talk with something in the background.

He _really_ liked Reimi. So much, and he was so grateful to be so close to her like he was, but...there was something missing. He knew he wanted Reimi to be his, and himself, hers. So, he had planned to confess his feelings, despite not knowing if Reimi liked him back.

It was a Thursday evening and they were playing Nintendo Land together at Reimi's. They were sitting on the couch together and Lloyd couldn't help but feel self-conscious at how close they were. It wasn't unusual but he suspected it was because he had been planning to...say something to Reimi, and today was the day.

"Er, Reimi?"

"Hm? What's wrong?" She must heard the nervousness in his voice.

"N-no, nothing, just, errr," He was struggling with what to say and he was so distracted that his video game performance was rapidly declining, "I am...I love you."

And suddenly Reimi was laughing.

"If you were better at video games, I wouldn't have to save you," Reimi chuckled.

Lloyd looked at the screen in confusion, to see his character was at one heart and Reimi's character, who had been going on ahead had come back to kill the monsters around him.

Reimi looked at his disheartened face.

"S-sorry Lloyd, I was joking," She said gently, as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

His turned to her quickly and laughed, "Haha, you know you don't have to worry about that with me, I was just dumbfounded by the situation."

Reimi seemed to believe it as her smile returned.

/

Reimi said goodnight to Lloyd later, worried he hadn't had as good a time as usual. Something had seemed off with him and she worried it was her fault. He had avoided eye contact, spoke less and seemed generally skittish.

As he was about to leave however, he said to her "Er.. tomorrow.. Want to go out somewhere to eat? It's on me," and she happily accepted though said she wouldn't mind paying for her half of the meal.

"Not this time," he shook his head and gave a cheeky grin though it quickly disappeared to be replaced by a more nervous one.

Reimi conceded but said she would buy them coffee somewhere first and Lloyd sighed. "Can't you just let me treat you?" with a hand on his hip and a fond smile.

Reimi smiled back, relieved he wanted to see her again so soon and they went their separate ways.

The next day Reimi and Lloyd went into town. Reimi was expecting them to go to a cafe type place for food, but Lloyd let her to a restaurant instead.

"Hey, isn't this place a bit expensive if you're treating?" she said, pulling his arm back just before they went in.

"I thought it might be a nice change," he said, though looked a bit worried. "Is it too much? Don't worry, I can afford it,"

"I feel bad you spending all your money AND time on me," Reimi said, shaking her head.

"Well you're worth it," he smiled softly.

Reimi froze and stared at him. "O-oh.. T-thank you," and her insides flared with happiness. She had been trying to push her feelings for Lloyd down and ignore them but every now and then he said something that made them resurface like crazy. It was getting harder and harder to push them down. She hoped the red in her cheeks didn't show.

/

Lloyd was trying his best to show all his cards, and had decided to actually ask Reimi out for dinner, hoping she'd realise it was a date. However, he was still nervous about being too forward, and couldn't bluntly say as much.

They were seated in a secluded spot which Lloyd was grateful for, and they chatted while they went through the menu.

"Are you sure you want to pay? I really don't mind, after all, you're a student. What kind of elder would I be to let you pay?" Reimi reminded, half in jest.

"Elder? You're just a year older than me, and don't look down on my management of money! I work as well, you know?" He laughed as he spoke, indicating he wasn't actually mad, "It was my idea any way,and I'll be offended if you pay."

Reimi laughed at his fiery protest, "Okay, only if you're sure. Thank you," She finished sincerely.

"Yeah!" He beamed.

During their meal, they spoke of all sorts of things. Lloyd was grateful that the food was good (he did look the place up, but he had still been worried) and Reimi seemed to be enjoying herself. Lloyd was so happy when he thought of how open Reimi had become with him.

When they had finished their meals and deserts, Lloyd knew he didn't have much time to say what he had wanted to for a while.

"Errr, so, are...um, sorry," Lloyd shook his head, "I'm really glad we met," It was lame, and he wanted to smack himself in the face, but it was honest, and with the smile Reimi was showing him, he no longer cared how uncool it was.

"Me too," She said beaming at him.

"And, I, I'm so happy we became friends, and we street-passed each other. I've never been so grateful to Nintendo," He chuckled at the end part, but not out of insincerity.

Reimi laughed too, before saying a slightly meeker voice, "Yeah, I think so too, and that's saying a lot from _me_."

Lloyd instantly gave a toothy smile, not being able to control how happy he was by that. He briefly wondered if Reimi had any idea where he was going with this. He began twisting his napkin in his hands but forced himself to stop.

"Reimi, I lo-whoa!" Lloyd suddenly felt cold liquid running down the back of his neck and back, making him jump up in surprise.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Turned out, a waitress who had been passing with a pitcher of water, had tripped and, unfortunately, Lloyd was in the perfect place to where the water landed.

The waitress began to fuss and fret over him.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Reimi asked concerned from the other side of the table.

"I'm really okay, seriously, don't worry," He said that towards both, Reimi and the waitress.

After some frantic sorting from the employees and Reimi, Lloyd explained they didn't live far and he could walk there fine. It was only a bit of water, after all. So, they finally paid their bill and got back to their apartments.

"Lloyd, you should quickly get changed into dry clothes, you could catch a cold," Reimi worried.

"I will, but I very rarely get sick and it was as much water as it look," He reassured, sheepishly rubbing the pack of his head. That last part was kind of a lie though, it was quite a lot of water.

"I'm sorry, Reimi. I hope you still had a good time. I know I did, and I'm really glad you came," He told her, trying not to blush, or feel disheartened that his plan failed.

"I had a great time, Lloyd! Don't worry about that! I'm just worried about you, you should be the one who didn't have a good time."

"No way! It was so much fun. A bit of water can't change that."

Reimi laughed and after a bit more chatting they made their way to their respective apartments.

/


	3. Chapter 3

Reimi had had a great time with Lloyd but still felt bad about what had happened at the end. She kept going over the day in her mind, little bursts of happiness filling her head and stomach everytime she did. She didn't want to, but she was getting her hopes up that maybe Lloyd liked her the same way she liked him. They were getting along so well, and she thought maybe one day soon she might try and tell him how she felt. She was scared but keeping things the way they were now would be too difficult for much longer as she felt her heart might give out from the tension she felt when they were together.

And even though it was now late at night, she wanted to send him a quick text and see what he was up to.

"Thank you again for a lovely dinner. Are you all dried off now?"

She checked the clock, it was 1am. She doubted he was still awake but was happily surprised when she got a reply a minute or so later with "Yep! All okay now. Surprised you're still awake!"

She chuckled to herself. "Couldn't sleep. I had a feeling you would still be up! Are you an insomniac too?"

It was a slight exaggeration on her own part but she didn't want to explain she was still awake because of thoughts of him.

"Yeah. I've been having trouble sleeping lately. Happy to join the club if you're in it though haha"

Reimi beamed at her phone. Lloyd was so kind.. But was it anything more than that or was he just a nice person to everyone? She decided she would test the waters once and for all by setting up a cinema date.

"Want to go see a film this week? There's a new horror out in a couple of days I really want to watch! Can you come with me after work?"

She waited for a tense couple of minutes until Lloyd replied affirmative. Reimi set up the meeting place and they said goodnight, but it was a long while before she fell asleep.

As they sat down to watch the film, Reimi's nervousness grew and grew. She knew this was a typical date scenario and wanted to test something she had seen happen in films sometimes, though she realised how silly it sounded.

During the film, she waited until there was a suitably scary moment and then gasped, half intentionally but half from actual fear, and grabbed Lloyd's hand, which she noticed from the start was placed conveniently near her, on his arm rest. She forced herself not to look at him or their hands and make it seem natural but hoped he wouldn't immediately pull away.

/

Lloyd's heart shot into his throat when Reimi's hand was on his, and tried not to be so obviously happy about it. He wanted to turn his hand around and interlink their fingers, but he was worried that if she, and she probably was, doing it purely out of fear, then it'd be an unnecessary affectionate action. However, he still leaned closer to her to try to make her feel better.

Slowly as the movie continued, Reimi's grip on Lloyd's hand steadily grew tighter, and Lloyd's cautiousness equally got pushed out of the window.

He moved his hand to turn it and intertwine their fingers like he'd wanted, but as he did, Reimi swiftly took her hand away.

"Oh, sorry," She said in a loud whisper, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Lloyd even thought she looked slightly devastated, but it was so dark, he could have been wrong.

"No! Reimi I was-"

"Shhh!" Some people behind began to complain, and Lloyd didn't want to make a scene for Reimi's sake so he could only go back to watching the film. He wanted to take her hand back but she seemed to have made as much room between them as she possibly could have from their enclosed seats.

He wanted to punch himself in the face. He should have left it alone, or did it a better way.

When the movie ended, he could honestly say he had no idea what had happened.

/

Once the film had ended and the lights turned on, Reimi stood up, ready to go. She couldn't look Lloyd in the face, she felt as though she had utterly humiliated herself and that he would probably want to get away from her now. Hopefully she could shrug the incident off as being down to fear from the film and they could still be friends, though she knew it would hurt her at first.

"Let's go," she said softly, trying to mask the hurt in her voice which she was sure would come out weak and broken if she said much more.

"Reimi-" She was scared of what he had to say in reply and so started walking. She saw from the corner of her eye Lloyd follow. There were a lot of people around them still and it felt safer than if they were alone. He hopefully wouldn't bring it up, especially with other people around. She knew she was maybe being overdramatic, but she hadn't realised how high she had raised her hopes from being with him the past few days.

As they left the theatre, Reimi fiddled with her phone in her pocket and got it to play her text ringtone. She faked surprise and looked at her phone, pretending to read a non-existent text.

"Reimi-" Lloyd started.

She looked up, gripping her phone and briefly met his eyes. He looked sad. It made her want to run away even more, she didn't want to hear a rejection from his mouth, this way she could comfort herself that it was something small that they could get over, rather than something big that they had to talk about.

"Lloyd, I'm sorry. I have to run. My sister needs me, I'll text you tonight. Thanks for coming with me," she chanced a smile and hurried off before he could talk. She thought she heard him start to follow her and she sped up the pace until she was out of sight.

And once she was, she let the tears fall.

Later that evening, she was back in her flat. She had purposefully stuck around in town awhile, not wanting to accidentally catch the same bus back as Lloyd. She silently opened the main door, climbed the stairs past Zelloyd's room and quickly opened the door to her own, leaning against it like a barrier. She let out a sigh and collapsed onto the sofa, grabbing a pillow to hug for comfort. She didn't know how she would face Lloyd again. He had texted her a little awhile ago, asking if he could come over at 7 and play Splatoon with her, but she didn't know what to say. In all honesty, she wanted to say no, but then it would be even more obvious she was upset which might risk their friendship, so she replied with a quick "Okay, see you then!"  
She hated when she had to be fake enthusiastic, but hoped he wouldn't see through it.

/

Okay, so he had messed up, and Reimi had gone back to her timid nature, BUT he had yet another plan. And unlike the other's it was going to be a bit harder to pull off. Despite his worried state that he'd made Reimi sad or nervous, which she most definitely was, it did give him hope from Reimi's reaction that she might very well, feel the same way. So, he was no longer going to dawdle his confession. He wasn't going to let her stew for a day to realise he wasn't worth her time.

Luckily, she wasn't put off enough to reject his proposal for a late game of splatoon, so at 7pm, he hurried over with his tv and wii u. She didn't say much but was polite as she opened the door and offered him tea. He declined, wanting to start his plan immediately.

He set up his game on Reimi's small table near the kitchen which overlooked the living room and main tv, the one Reimi was going to play on.

Reimi didn't talk that much when they started playing, and when Lloyd tried to create competitive banter, Reimi just politely laughed in response. So, he decided to start on the plan.

He equipped the 52 Gal and got to work writing out his message for Reimi to find.

It wasn't going well, as Reimi refused to come find him for a while.

"Lloyd, what are you doing? You're doing the worst on your team and I haven't seen you anywhere," She asked curiously, not meaning any harm.

"Come find me then!" Lloyd said smiling.

"You know I'll kill you, right?" Reimi laughed, Lloyd assumed she felt better and was no longer as reserved.

"We'll see."

"Challenge accepted!"

Lloyd was happy but panicked to finish his message and other players weren't helping. Luckily he managed to find a _less busy_ place, out of the way of the centre areas, not saying he was completely safe.

"Is that you over here?"

/

From Lloyd's actions Reimi knew he was trying his best to make things normal, despite her certainty that they were dancing round eggshells from earlier in the day. She was really trying her best to be her normal self too, but she had a dead weight in her chest that was bringing her down and making it hard to joke around as much as normal. She really did appreciate Lloyd trying to cheer her up but it didn't make things hurt inside any less.

And so she found herself hunting down Lloyd in Splatoon. She felt bad she was slightly letting her team down, but since Lloyd was not doing anything productive in game it kind of evened things out. She glanced over to Lloyd sitting near the kitchen and he had a strange expression on his face. He was concentrating on the screen but he seemed worried. When he noticed her looking he gave her a little nervous smile and her curiousity piqued. Just what was he doing?

As her character rounded a corner in Splatoon, she finally saw where Lloyd was, his character was shooting at the wall (which was weird because the game only gave you points for shooting the floor..) and she was about to question him when she realized his paint had formed letters. It took her a second to decipher what they said but as she concentrated she eventually made it out;

"I love you,"

She sat there stunned. She could feel Lloyd's eyes on her but her brain had stopped responding and she couldn't think of how to was gripping her controller so tightly, wondering if she was dreaming, when a loud whistle blew and she saw the timer in the game had run out. It brought her to her senses, cautiously she turned to look at Lloyd, wanting to check his expression to see if it was a joke. But his face was deadly serious, there was no hint of a smile on his face, only determination and worry. She blushed crimson and bowed her head to hide it.

"Reimi..?" Lloyd's voice croaked out.

"Me too," she whispered into her lap, just loud enough for him to hear. "I love you too,"

/

During his struggles with writing with a paint gun he spotted Reimi looking over at him from the couch, and gave her a little smile but he wasn't sure how genuine it came across with his wrecked nerves.

He finally finished his message and his attention went to Reimi's screen.

She wasn't far from him, and was quickly closing in. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, and he seriously debated pressing the shoot button down as he cursor hung dangerously over his heart-felt words, which had taken so long to make eligible. But he shoved the thoughts away, and as a precaution, put down his controller.

Then when his words came into view on Reimi's screen, everything seemed to wobble in slow motion.

"I love you,"

He felt like Reimi stared at that wall for a life time and worried she couldn't read it, or worse, she was figuring out how to get out of the situation. Then the whistle blew, but he didn't eally hear it. His eyes sat on Reimi. She slowly turned to look at him, and he wasn't sure how he looked, hopefully not like he was in a stupor, which is how he felt. Then her face went red, and her mouth was in a tight line as she lowered her head that he could no longer see her.

He could have ran. He wanted to, but...he needed to hear it.

"Reimi..?" His voice broke, but he didn't care. He had already put everything out on the table.

Her head lowered even further, and she disappeared behind the head of the couch.

"Me too,." He only just about heard it, and for a moment he didn't understand, "I love you too," and then he did.

Lloyd slowly stood up, "...D-do you mean that?"

"I wouldn't lie about this," She said louder, in a slightly desperate voice. Lloyd then realised, that Reimi was crying.

"Reimi..." He slowly went over to the couch where Reimi had her face and hands in her lap. He gently knelt down in front of her, and cupped her face with both his hands, gently lifting it.

It broke his heart to see her crying and it took everything in him to not cry himself . He changed his position to sit beside her, and cradled her against his chest.

"Please don't cry Reimi, I love you," It was a terrible incentive for her to stop crying, but he couldn't think what to say.

Reimi laughed through her tears, "Haha, sorry, I _am_ so happy, but I've been so worried and scared this whole time. I-I didn't know what to do, and I never believed you'd like me that way," She told him through sobs.

"What?! I should be saying that. I thought I was a nuisance-neighbour to you," He said as he gently rubbed her arm.

"You've never been a nuisance to me, but I was so rude to you at DS, and then really quiet when we met in person," She was calming down, but she was still sniffle-y.

"Haha, I don't see it that way. I've loved you since not long after meeting you! "

"Haha, that can't be true,"

"It is! Ask Zelos, he's seen the whole thing and gave me the push by reminding me how lucky I was that the first two loves of my life turned out to be one in the same," Despite Reimi crying, Lloyd didn't realise how happy it could make him just by having her in his arms, "You make me so happy. All of you."

/

Reimi smiled happily at Lloyd's words and bashfully hid her face in his neck, intertwining their fingers as she did so. She felt Lloyd give her fingers a little squeeze and squeezed back.

"Today.. I set up the cinema date to try and ask you out..." Reimi eventually said after they had sat in comfortable silence for awhile.

"I'm sorry about that.." Lloyd sighed, sounding a little sad. "I really wanted to hold your hand properly, like we are now, but I accidentally made you let go, and I couldn't reach your hand again"

Reimi shook her head. "It's okay, I was too quick to give up. In my mind, I thought you could never like me back.. So as soon as I had an excuse to believe that, my mind just clung to it. I didn't feel like it was possible you would ever.." she trailed off, still embarassed. Lloyd hugged her tighter.

"...Why do you think I asked you to dinner then, Reimi?"

"I thought you were just being nice," she said slowly, remembering back.

Lloyd chuckled. "It was a date. Well.. to me it was a date,"

Reimi sat back and looked at him. "R-really?! I was hoping.. Well, I thought maybe..." she looked away, going red. "But again I was scared to get my hopes up,"

"You don't have to worry about that anymore. I DO like you, I _love_ you! So it doesn't matter anymore," he smiled reassuringly. "I'm just glad I was finally able to tell you, it's taken a few tries,"

"Sorry for being so dense," she smiled, looking away, it was hard to face Lloyd when he was looking at her so softly like that. She felt she would burn up.

Reimi and Lloyd enjoyed their special moment for a bit longer, before Reimi realized their Wii Us were still on and connected to Splatoon.

"Oh! We should disconnect," she said, making to get up and turn them off.

/

"Oh right!" They both quickly got up and turned of their respective WiiUs. After doing so, and tidying up a little, the two stood around awkwardly on the opposite sides of the room. Lloyd wanted to return to their position before but...didn't have the courage to say as much.

 _I guess, even after everything went well, it's still a bit scary and embarrassing to say what I'm thinking..._

But, then, he remembered what happened at the cinema, and he knew he didn't want to give Reimi another misunderstanding, especially now that he knew she felt the same way.

"Um...do you mind if...er- can we go back to our places on the couch?" He knew he shouldn't be so nervous about asking his _girlfriend_ to cuddle with him, but...he liked Reimi so much, he didn't want to do, or say the wrong thing.

"Yes, please," Reimi replied bashfully with pink dusting her cheeks, and the smile she wore was the cutest smile Lloyd had ever seen. He smiled back, he couldn't help it.

Feeling a little more confident, Lloyd walked over to the couch and sat in his spot leaning back a little, as Reimi sat next to him and rested against him, his arms wrapping around her.

They don't know how long they stayed like that, talking quietly to each other (I mean they were so close, they didn't need to raise their voice at all, and the other would still hear them), and just being together.

Then, Lloyd's stomach decided to ruin their time together by making a loud, long rumbling noise.

"Haha, I guess we did miss dinner. I'm hungry too," Reimi chuckled, as she looked up at Lloyd.

"Sorry...kinda ruined the mood. Should we go out and eat?"

"Sounds good. I'm too tired to cook. Should we go to that diner down near the mall? It stays open quite late," Reimi suggested. Lloyd could tell by her voice, she was still super embarrassed and nervous, but, hey, so was he.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Lloyd smiled, however, Reimi didn't move, "Reimi?"

"I know, but I'm comfy," Lloyd laughed at how cute she was.

"Yeah, me too, but nourishment is important," he said chuckling, "So, here we go!" And suddenly, with a random burst of happy confidence, he picked up Reimi bridal style, who reflexly put her arms around his neck while giving a small whelp of surprise.

"L-Lloyd! What are you doing?!" She giggled.

"Haha, this was we can stay close," Lloyd beamed down at her. There was a pause, and Reimi had a face of cheerful bewilderment, but Lloyd had worried he had made her awkward or done something wrong.

Then, suddenly, Reimi sat up (as much as she could) in his arms, and kissed him with all her might, before, once again, burying her face in his shoulder to hide.

Lloyd stood there for a moment, processing. Suddenly, his whole face was hot and he didn't know what to do.

Reimi began to move, surprising him back to reality, and slid out of his grasp, gracefully returning to her feet.

"W-we should get going," She grabbed her keys and bag that sat on a small end-table next to the door. Lloyd went over to her, as she opened the front door to leave, "Reimi," which made her turn her head to the side slightly while Lloyd stood behind her.

And, when she did, he did the exact same thing she had done, and kissed her square on the mouth. (though, this time is was on a slight angle from their positions).

As he pulled away, he smiled widely at Reimi, who looked flabbergasted , then took her hand in his.

"To food!" He cheered, as he dragged a stunned Reimi with him."

/

Reimi had been much more open with her affection for Lloyd at dinner, almost constantly holding his hand and playing footsie under the table, and Lloyd kept leaning in to kiss Reimi on the cheek, which without fail made her blush in happiness.

After they came back and reluctantly said goodnight, Reimi and Lloyd spend most of the night texting each other, still enjoying their moment.

Lloyd suggested to Reimi that she come round the next day and play games at his, because he was at hers the day before and so she found herself outside his door after work.

After knocking for a few seconds the door opened and she was surprised to see that not Lloyd, but Zelos greeted her. She had almost forgotten Zelos lived her too. She immediately shut down into shy mode and hailed him in a small surprised voice.

"H-hi Zelos,"

"Reimiiiiiiii~ Come in come in," he swept her inside. Lloyd didn't seem to be there yet.

As if reading her mind, Zelos replied "Lloyd's in the bathroom, he'll be out in a sec,"

Reimi blushed and nodded. Zelos took her to a seat on the couch and went to set up the TV. A moment later the bathroom door opened and Lloyd came out. Reimi stood up very suddenly and turned to face him, happiness filling her as they locked eyes.

"Reimi," Lloyd grinned widely and walked over towards her for a hug but stopped short, embarassed as he noticed Zelos was right next to them watching. Reimi realised from this interaction Zelos must not know they were together yet and she suddenly wasn't sure what to do or how to act. She also felt too nervous to hug or kiss Lloyd in front of people who weren't strangers yet, and though she hated herself for it, so she retreated a little bit into her shell and sat back down.

"Thanks for having me over," she told them both, looking at the floor shyly. She looked up at Lloyd and smiled apologetically.

/

Lloyd knew he had forgotten something...Things had been so busy and amazing yesterday, he had forgotten to tell his best friend, and room-mate, that all his heartache was worth it, and that he and Reimi were now together. He could instantly tell Reimi was at a loss for what to do, or say for that matter, after realising Zelos lack of information and had shrunk into herself a little. Lloyd had to remember to apologise to her later.

It did occur to him that he could just tell Zelos now...but he thought that might be too embarrassing for Reimi, so, he'd have to wait till after she'd left.

"So, you two against me on Mario Kart, yeah?" Zelos prompted.

"A-ah, yeah, sure!" Lloyd responded, pulled out of his thoughts.

"But first, I need to go to the bathroom," Zelos randomly declared.

"...okay," Lloyd said unsure.

Once Zelos had left. Lloyd immediately went over to Reimi.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell him yesterday after everything that happened, and I was so excited about you coming over...it kind of slipped my mind to tell him today, I'm so sorry," He rambled in a quiet tone only for Reimi to hear.

"I-it's okay, I thought it was something like that," Reimi smiled sweetly, making Lloyd sigh in relief to having been forgiven, "But...um, how to we act till you're able to tell him?"

"I...I'm not sure, I guess as we were before...though I can't really remember how to do that myself," Lloyd mused in a troubled, thoughtful tone.

"Me neither," Reimi said, but she was still smiling.

"Okay! Who's ready for an ass-whooping!" Zelos cheered after returning from the bathroom.

"Zelos, please, we have company," Lloyd joked. Lloyd then saw his phone lit up, he went over to it and saw he had a text from Zelos.

 _I'm giving you some time here buddy!_

/

Teaming up on Mario Kart meant they easily outmatched Zelos, though he took it in good humour and let them play a few cups in this fashion before they decided to change games. Zelos had also purposefully made the two of them sit together, which Reimi happily used to keep her foot against Lloyd's, since they couldn't hold hands or noticeably get any closer.

A few times Lloyd did squeeze Reimi's shoulder, or gently push into her when she teased him about being defeated in a game and during those times Reimi would try and not react, very aware that Zelos was watching them.

After an hour or so Lloyd excused himself to the bathroom and Reimi found herself alone with Zelos. Before she could struggle to start small talk he began instead.

"This is nice. I've barely seen Bud lately, he always seems to be round yours," Zelos smiled at her. "I'm a little jealous."

"I'm sorry," Reimi blushed.

"Don't be sorry for _that_.. He really likes you, you know," Zelos said after a pause. Reimi wasn't sure if he was implying something by emphasising 'that'.

"I.. like him too. He's a good friend." she nodded.

"Yeah. He's a great _friend_. I just don't want to see him hurt or be given any misunderstandings," Zelos said, his voice a little lower. Reimi didn't quite understand what he was getting at.

"I would never hurt Lloyd," she replied, sounding concerned. "He's my.. he's very important to me,"

It looked like Zelos wanted to say more but just then Lloyd came out of the bathroom and Zelos immediately changed the subject to something lighter.

After a couple more hours of games, Reimi excused herself to go home since it was getting late. Lloyd saw her to the door and Zelos waved goodbye from the couch.

"I'll walk you back," Lloyd smiled and they both went out into the hall.

As the door partly closed behind them, Lloyd leant in and kissed Reimi, taking her slightly by surprise.

When it was over she looked at him in slight surprise.

"Sorry, I've been wanting to do that all day," he chuckled. They started walking to her apartment.

"Don't say sorry," she grinned, taking his hand. "Hey.. um.. Zelos, was acting a bit strange today.."

"Strange how?" he asked, concerned.

"It feltl like.. he was accusing me of maybe.. hurting you somehow," she trailed off.

"What do you mean?" he replied, frowning.

"I don't know. He probably thinks I'm leading you on, since he doesn't know we're together.. We should say something soon or he might get the wrong idea," She looked a bit worried. She had tried to hold back with Lloyd today but maybe that was the wrong thing to do. "Well.. I should get ready for bed," she changed the subject, they had just reached her apartment and she got her keys out of her bag, ready to unlock the door.

/

Lloyd squeezed Reimi's shoulder, "Reimi"

She turned and he gave her another kiss, "I'll tell him we're together, and please don't let what he said get to you, we were both in the exact same position during that time, right?"

Reimi smile and nodded.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow," This time Reimi kissed him making him bashful, and she went inside and closed the door giving a small wave.

When Lloyd returned to his own apartment, Zelos was still sat at his place in the armchair, "Did you confess?"

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, "Actually, Zelos-"

"You know, I've been thinking, maybe you should go for someone else..."

"Huh...? What? I thought you liked Reimi,"

"I do...I did, but today, every time you touched her, even slightly, she didn't react at all, if anything she seemed uncomfortable. I thought she was nice and liked you back, but I think you should go for a nicer girl," Zelos said in quite a broody tone.

"...I confessed yesterday and we're going out. I forgot to tell you yesterday because I was too busy being happy, and Reimi felt self-conscious and embarrassed being affectionate with you not knowing," Lloyd explained.

Zelos looked a Lloyd with a bewildered expression, "Huh?"

"So, don't say anything bad about Reimi. Turns out we were going through the same stuff, and insecurities," Lloyd sat down on the couch.

"...Oh...we'll I may have said something uncalled for today"

"Yeah, you did."

"She told you?"

"She was really bothered by it"

"Aw, man, I have to apologise,"

"You sure do"

"But still, I still stand firm that if she hurts you, well, they'll be hell to pay"

"You could never be mean to a girl"

"Sure I could"

"You couldn't. And I wouldn't let you," Lloyd warned, "But...thank you. You really are a good friend."

"Of course!" Zelos got up from the armchair and plopped down next to Lloyd on the couch, "We're buddies for life!"

Lloyd laughed and joked about feeling dread that they have to know each other for the rest of their lives.

"Hey!"

"Haha, now go over to Reimi's! She said she was fine but I'm sure she's still worrying that you hate her,"

/

Reimi heard a knock at the door and assumed it was Lloyd.

She hurried back and pulled it open swiftly with a grin "Back already?" but froze when her eyes lay on his flatmate. "H-Hey Zelos," She withdrew from him and her smile shrank, still noticeable but a lot less bright.

"Hey Rem, can I come in?"

"Ah, yes, okay," And she stood aside to let him pass.

"Thanks," He smiled.

She led him in to the front room and they sat down.

"Do you want some-"

"About earlier - I'm sorry for what I said. Bud filled me in," Zelos interrupted, clearly eager to get it out.

Reimi burned red, and struggled for an answer, so Zelos continued.

"I thought.. but I was wrong. I'm really happy for you guys. Lloyd's been really happy ever since he met you and I'm glad things worked out,"

She smiled happily. "Me too. I've been happy too. I really really love Lloyd. Thank you for saying that,"

Zelos smiled back and stood up again.

"Well, I should go,"

"Wait, Zelos. Earlier... you said, you were a little jealous. I am sorry for stealing your flatmate all this time.. But you don't need to be. You're Lloyd's best friend, he needs you too. We can.. share him?" she said, embarassed, wondering if that was a weird thing to say.

Zelos raised his eyebrow.

"Share his time," she quickly corrected, her face completely flushed now.

Zelos laughed and ruffled her hair a little. "Thanks. It's cool, just come over to ours now and again and I'll have nothing to worry about,"

They talked a short while longer about inconsequential things before she big him goodbye and went to the kitchen for a tea to recover from the days ordeals.

/


	4. Final Chapter

3 months later.

Lloyd paid for the drinks he had just bought at the concession stand and waited for the cashier to get them. Reimi and himself were on their monthly movie date (not that they only date once a month but go to the cinema...not sure if i needed to explain that) and while Reimi went to the bathroom before the film, he went to get their drinks.

As he waited, he looked around, and noticed Reimi , apparently having returned from the bathroom, talking to a guy. Lloyd watched for a while, and noticed Reimi didn't actually look that comfortable, actually, if anything she looked seriously uncomfortable. The man, put his hand on Reimi's shoulder, and Lloyd forgot about the drinks. He walked closely towards them and heard Reimi say in an nervous voice, "No, I have a boyfriend, and he's waiting for me."

The guy disregarded what she said and pushed forward and his hand moved from her shoulder to her arm, "That movie sucks anyway, we should just head out and get drinks."

What is wrong with this guy?

Lloyd don't know when he reached them, but found his own hand on the guy's wrist and pulling it roughly away from Reimi. From the guy's yelp of pain, apparently Lloyd had unconsciously used a lot of his strength.

"What are you doing!?" The guy yelled out.

"What are you doing? She clearly said no, and said she had a boyfriend," Lloyd growled.

"No she didn't!" He said turning to Reimi.

"Yes I did," Reimi told Lloyd.

"Yeah, I know," He said giving her a smile before turning back to the stranger, "Don't force yourself on people, or I'll break your wrist," Lloyd said, making a point by tightening his grip.

The guy pulled away and Lloyd let him scramble away as he yelled, "What's wrong with you?"

"L-Lloyd?" Reimi called out.

"Oh sorry, let's get our drinks," He smiled.

When they took their seats Reimi turned to Lloyd, "Y-you were kind of scary back there."

Lloyd was surprised, but realised he had acted violently, although he never planned on actually hurting the guy fourther...well, unless he had to.

"I-I'm sorry...I kinda lost it back there...I didn't mean to scare you," His voice went a little meek at the prospect of Reimi being scared of him.

"No!" Reimi said taking his hand, "I was so happy that you protected me, and I know you would never use violence unnecessarily. A-and, if it had been the other way around...I know I would be really angry too," Reimi blushed.

Lloyd felt so happy, and realised how lucky he was to have Reimi. He playfully pulled her into a loose headlock and kissed the top of her head. Reimi giggled and, just as playfully pushed his away.

"I love you," He beamed at her.

"I love you too"

/

Reimi and Lloyd had been dating for nearly 8 months when they had their first major fight.

While they had a lot of games in common, Lloyd would occassionally enjoy some first person shooters and more military-based games, which Reimi tended to avoid. One weekend a new game was released in one of Lloyd's favourite FPS series, and for the first time it was multiplayer. Reimi gave it a go, knowing how much it meant to him, but she didn't really enjoy it so she first took to watching, then playing other games alongside him, to finally not coming round at all if she knew he wanted to play the game that evening.

Lloyd had some friends at uni who also played the game so for a couple of weeks his life was totally absorbed by it. He still would invite her round but when she asked if they could go out to eat, he would have a game booked with his friends and promised her they could do it another night instead. He didn't notice that Reimi had gradually stopped texting him because of his late replies, or was getting more and more upset and blunt when she texted. Normally, they were both into games at the same time so that was probably why he didn't think on it too much.

Finally, when completely stopped replying to his texts he took notice. He tried calling her phone but it was turned off. He knew Reimi well enough by now to know her phone was never turned off, so she must have done it on purpose. He tried knocking on her door, but got no reply.

Reimi was really angry with Lloyd. She knew how he could get with videogames but it made her feel as though she were less special than they were at times, and Lloyd didn't even notice. She had tried really hard to get into his FPS but it just wasn't her type of game, and now he hadn't even noticed she was barely coming over anymore. She knew it was childish but she wanted to sulk for awhile and so turned off her phone and ignored when the door rang. She would face him soon, but she also knew that she wanted to treat him the same way it had felt like she had been treated, and hoped he would understand why she was upset.

/

Reimi was mad. And Lloyd had no idea why, and couldn't find out as she was ignoring his calls and wasn't answering the door for him. He was beyond worried and consulting Zelos hadn't helped either, not that that was Zelos' fault, how would he know why Reimi was angry? So, it called for extreme action. Well, if stalking your own girlfriend outside her workplace, could be considered extreme.

He made sure he was out of the building's exit and windows immediate view so she couldn't turn tail and run for it. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing, he had considered waiting for her to come to him, but it had been a week and it was one of the most stressful in his young-adult life. Also, he had been having terrible thoughts and images of Reimi breaking up with him, and he just couldn't take it any more. He couldn't focus at uni or work, and it really hurt to feel like you're waiting for an end, as dramatic as that sounds.

Ten minutes later, Reimi filed out of the building carrying some awkwardly large portfolio cases and tubes, so, he swiftly caught up with her, taking some of the luggage. She was surprised at first, but turned forward with an angry look and ignored him as he walked by her side.

"Good day?" He asked nervously, to which he didn't receive any acknowledgement. He gathered his thoughts before trying again.

"...I-I'm a bit of an idiot," He started, looking down as he walked, "So, I'm not that self-aware, and I won't understand when I've done something wrong. Not that I'm excusing it! But I need to be told, I know it's frustrating, and it's annoying you have to explain it to me...but as I said I'm an idiot, but I'm not completely hopeless. I'll learn as I go...so-"

"You're not an idiot," Reimi said in a stern, angry voice but Lloyd peaked at her words, "but you are stupid."

"Isn't that the same?" Lloyd sighed, deflating.

"I know you love video games, I do, and I love that about you...but you can get so enthralled in them for such a long time, it's like I'm not even there. And I get scared, I feel you're out of reach...and that you don't need me..." Reimi voice gradually lowered in volume the more she spoke.

"What?! That's not-"

"I know, but it's how I feel!"

Lloyd, shocked by her outburst, went quiet and thought about what she said.

The two had stopped walking and had turned into an alley to talk more privately.

"...Since the first time you ignored me a week ago, I've felt sick. Sick to my stomach. I couldn't do anything and I felt helpless. I thought you had grown tired of me and was planning on leaving me."

"I'd never-"

"But that's how it felt,"

"So...I really understand how you feel, and it's not just this week, it's a lot of things. When you talk to another guy, when you can't meet because of work, when you talk so someone I don't know or meet with others, when you get so involved in a piece that you don't look up from your computer for hours...But they're also things I love about you. I love how passionate you are, how independent you are and I'd never want to take that away from you, but I get scared..." Lloyd confessed.

"...Me too, but I had never thought you felt the same," Reimi said, amazed by what she'd heard, "Not that I ever doubted you cared about me, but...you're so childish and silly, which I love, but it's hard to read you sometimes..."

"I never meant to be. I'm sorry about last week and playing that game so much...I guess I did get too into it-"

"I don't want to take things away from you," Reimi suddenly chimed in, "But...it makes me insecure."

"Yeah, I'd be the same. I'm sorry, Reimi. I love you more than anything. I'll make sure to not make you feel this way again."

"That's impossible, you definitely will," Reimi smiled as she sighed.

"...Well, I'm going to do my best, but you still might have to talk to me if I get like that again, sorry," Lloyd said sheepishly.

Reimi smiled again, "You too. I don't want to hear these things after eight months of dating, I don't want to hurt you either."

"Deal," Lloyd beamed, before it slowly turned to a small smile, "You know I really love you and I only want to treasure you."

Reimi said nothing, before pulling him in for a deep kiss as Lloyd possessively wrapped his arms around her.

/

Reimi and Lloyd had now been dating for 3 years.

Reimi knew not longer after they had first started going out that she wanted to be with Lloyd forever, and since they were still going out after 3 years, she hoped he felt the same way too. She had dreams that one day that he might propose, though something inside of her wanted to take the step first, and a cute idea came to her one day of how she would want to do it.

It started out at first as a project for fun, but eventually the more she worked on it, the more serious she felt about her idea and every day put an hour of work in to make it a reality.

Finally, 6 months later she had it finished, and waited for an evening where they had no plans to go out before approaching Lloyd.

"L-Lloyd? I've made something for you.. a game. Would you.. If you have some time right now, would you play it? It's under an hour long,"

She was super nervous but didn't want it to show through so much he was put off playing.

"Wow! Yeah of course I will! Reimi that's so cool" he smiled.

Luckily he seemed really excited to hear about her game and immediately put down the one he was currently playing to try it. She handed him her laptop and double-clicked the icon to boot it before sitting down beside him to watch.

It was a custom game using an old game boy pokemon engine. You started off controlling a pixel version 'Deku Scrub" who was sitting in her house alone.

Reimi smiled as Lloyd laughed but couldn't surpress her nerves.

Deku Scrub was shown going about her day alone in the Deku Forest with a quick illustration montage - shopping, working and sleeping. Everything around her was black and white.

Then the next morning when she woke up there was a new character in her house. A cup of hot coffee.

"Oh? I must have made this last night and forgotten about it.. I should clean up.."

"Wait! Don't throw me away!" Said the hot coffee.

"Is this me?" Lloyd turned to her shaking his head. "Well... Yep.. this is exactly how we met,"

Reimi grinned but still didn't say anything.

"I've come to warn you, the world is under attack. My friend Zelos has been possessed by an evil warlock Zelos. I need your help defeating him, will you come with me?"

"Ok," Deku Scrub replied bluntly.

Lloyd chuckled again. "That's so like you as DS"

The next few minutes of the game were spent battling some familiar monsters - named things like 'Work Assignment' 'Late Night' 'Videogames' - all problems they had overcome during their relationship. On the way Reimi had also put in a Power Up that turned the characters into their custom Inklings from Splatoon. She had painstakingly drawn everything in the game, including the menu screens to have a little chibi Deku Scrub and Hot Coffee cup.

Eventually they got to the Final Boss, Zelos.

"Yeah, this is my world now. You guys are making it smell like coffee and trees and I don't like that. So prepare to die..!"

The boss fight started, and after a certain amount of damage, the game turned to a rhythm game, and in order to defeat him Lloyd had to tap in tune to a pixellated version of a song they both liked.

He managed to pass it, despite not playing many rhythm games and defeated Zelos, who fell into a heap, the warlock's ghost flying out of him.

Unfortunately the character of Deku Scrub was hit with a big blast and was mortally wounded. Hot Coffee went to his fallen friend and listened to her talk.

"HC.. these past three years with you have been so much fun. And every day I'm so thankful to be with you. And I want to keep on being with you for my whole life.. If you'll have me."

The character of Zelos stood up and walked towards them.

"I can save her with the little magic I have left in me. But I need something from you, too. A promise"

Reimi was getting more and more frightened, Lloyd had gotten quiet while playing and totally focused on the game. She hoped he wasn't aware of what she was about to do and thinking of a way out of it.

"Lloyd... Will you marry me?" The character of Deku Scrub asked, though her name had now changed to 'Reimi'.

A 'yes', 'no' box appeard on the screen and Reimi waited with baited breath to see what he would reply. She had never been more nervous about anything in her life and was on the verge of tears from how scared and stressed she was. She had seen a lot of proposals in movies but wanted to do something completely her own and special to them. She held the engagement ring in her pocket and would give it to him if he said yes. If he said no.. she would understand but she wasn't sure she would be able to get over the embarassment and so desperately prayed that he felt the same way she felt.

/

3 years had flown by and, Lloyd and Reimi had been happily together all that time. They had moved in with each other a year and a half of dating each other (they had wanted it to be a few months sooner, but with Lloyd finishing off Uni, it didn't seem convenient), and had been thinking for the past year about proposing to Reimi. However, a lot of things got in the way, at first it was work stress (on both sides), then one of Lloyd's long lost relatives showed up from the blue, and then, Lloyd decided he wanted to make Reimi's engagement ring himself (don't get me wrong, he wasn't overly confident he'd be able to do it, but he thought if he botched it he could buy one in the end) which, between design and execution, had taken over 6 months.

One evening, Lloyd was designing a commissioned piece for a couple who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. They wanted an old fashioned, 19th century chest made, where they could put all the memories of their relationship. It made him think about the engagement ring hidden at the back of his night stand. He had only finished a week ago. Zelos had given him the go ahead when he showed it to him, which gave him some confidence, but... He wondered if it was good enough for Reimi. Also, he was greatly struggling for a way to propose which would be suitable for Reimi. He felt a lot of pressure, he wanted to give her everything.

As his pencil hung loose in his hand, he heard Reimi timidly say, "L-Lloyd? I've made something for you.. a game. Would you.. If you have some time right now, would you play it? It's under an hour long."

"Wow! Yeah of course I will! Reimi that's so cool" Lloyd was amazed. She hadn't mentioned anything about making a game before, and she seemed nervous. 'It must be important to her,' he thought and wondered if this was something to do with work...but he had said she made it for him. Reimi did these kind of romantic gestures all the time, so it wasn't odd as she normally was more excited to show him, and would talk happily about whatever the present was.

Lloyd decided not to think about it too much and put his full attention on the game.

As soon as the first screenshot appeared, it scream Reimi. The pixel art was incredibly cute and well done, while the background, despite being pixel, were amazingly detailed yet subtly beautiful. The style made him incredibly happy, Reimi knew his favourite era of console was around the N64 and Gameboy Colour, and it was so nostalgic of that time.

He played through the game, giving comments where they were due, but would often go silent, the game was quite immersive. Reimi's humour was very evident in the game and it made the game or the more enjoyable for him. He laughed a lot when Zelos appeared...

He defeated the final boss, but DS had been badly injured, and surprisingly, Lloyd was seriously unhappy by the notion, I mean it's obvious he would feel that way, but he knew it was a video game, and the creator was the person in mention, who was standing next to him while he sat on the couch. But it was a horrible feeling, then Zelos said he could save her, and DS's name changed to Reimi suddenly...

"Lloyd... Will you marry me?" And a'yes', 'no' box appeared on the screen.

Lloyd paused. He brain apparently decided to shut down. He looked down at the keys of the keyboard and he slowly smiled. He returned to the screen, his brain now working again, and making sure Reimi could see he clicked the 'yes' box.

He heard Reimi exhale, and he gently placed the laptop on the table. Then...he ran into their bedroom. He heard Reimi call out gently, "Lloyd?" and after he done what he needed to, he ran back to the living room glomping Reimi with all his might.

"Whoa!" Reimi cried out before laughing, "You're so weird."

Lloyd laughed too before pulling back to look at her.

She gently smiled back with watery eyes and sniffed a little as she pulled a small black box from her pocket.

She opened it to reveal a dark-silvered ring, with subtle flat-black gems than ran diagonally across the top of the band.

Lloyd beamed at Reimi as he ran a thumb gently under her one of her eyes to wipe away a tear, before pulling a box of his own.

Reimi looked at it with wide, confused eyes, "W-what?"

"I'd been working on this for the past six months, haha," Lloyd laughed lightly as he opened it.

Reimi gasped down as the ring, had pink jewels aligned into the shape a flower, and the rose-gold band itself was encrusted with clear gems both sides of the flower but only a quarter way down way the band.

"Lloyd, you made this?" Reimi asked in awe.

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Y-yeah, is it okay?"

"O-okay? It's perfect," She said, her tears now falling from her eyes.

They, with trembling hands, exchanged rings and hugged each other with no plans of letting go any time soon.

End


End file.
